Needle and method of frictioning



y 6, 1941- A. N. CLOUTIER 2,240,761

NEEDLE AND METHOD OF FRICTIONING Filed Oct. 13, 1958 /Emaa/Yaa closely to the dial axis.

Patented May 6, 1941 NEEDLE AND METHOD OF FRICTIONING Arthur N. Cloutier, Lonsdale, R. L, assignor to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, R. 1., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 13, 1938, Serial No. 234,813

1 Claim.

This case concerns a dial needle for dial and cylinder type knitting machines and more especially, a new method and construction for frictioning these needles.

In the figures of drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of a typical dial with dial needles therein;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a dial needle constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of such needle;

Fig, 4 is a detail view of a few cylinder and dial needles showing one phase in the operation thereof for transferring stitches;

Fig. 5 is another detail view of another phase in such transferring operation; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of a typical slotted needle cylinder.

In dial and cylinder knitting machines in which stitches are transferred from dial needles to cylinder needles it is essential to control the dial needles for knitting in conjunction with some or all cylinder needles, and in addition to this, to control the said dial needles especially during the transfer of stitches therefrom. It is essential to friction dial needles within their slots, but heretofore this has not been done in the same way practiced with respect to cylinder needles. As will be more fully described hereinafter, dial needles are much shorter than cylinder needles and thus are so stiff that it is not practicable merely to bend the dial needle at some point adjacent the center thereof as is done with cylinder needles. Dial needles for hosiery machines commonly have tails which project inwardly to a point very close to the dial axis or spindle which is of relatively small diameter. However, there is no lateral support for these tails since in hosiery machines, the convergence of dial needle slots is such that the intervening walls are reduced to a point before the slots approach very Thus'dial needles have to be guided by relatively limited lateral supporting surfaces. These dial needle tails are usually reduced in thickness to about half the thickness of the dial needle itself. These tails serve to prevent vertical tilting of the needles and, of course, when dial needles are projected outwardly, offer a certain amount of lateral support.

It is by means of these thin tails that the dial needles are frictioned. Each pair of dial needles will have their tails bent in opposite direction so that one dial needle tail presses against another and thus each pair of needles works together in creating the requisite amount of friction. When dial needles are projected outwardly to a point where the said tails disengage each other and are retained within the slots, the oiTset or bent tail then serves as a frictioning means within the slot itself.

At this point the diificulty' to be experienced with such construction is apparent. It is known that needle slots are always a few thousandths wider than the needles and thus there is a more other will be forced in the opposite direction with respect to a similar line along its slot. This results in a tendency for needles to be unevenly spaced between their intervening cylinder needles, especially when the said needle is projected outwardly to a considerable extent. During ordinary dial and cylinder knitting this is noticeable, but at the transfer as in automatic half hose machines, the effect is much greater since dial needles are necessarily projected outwardly much farther at that time than during knitting. The inaccuracy is also of greater concern at this time since the transferring operation, as is Well known, must be performed with precision in order to effect a perfect transfer.

According to the present invention dial needles are cut away at a point intermediate the main shank portions thereof and are thus rendered flexible enough to be bent laterally at that point so that each dial needle may be bent in the same direction and therefore all needles have the same tendency to incline in one direction of their slots. So long as all dial needles project at the same angle, it is possible and practicable to adjust the dial relatively to the cylinder so that proper interneedle spacing will result. Knitting and transferring will be greatly facilitated.

Now referring to the figures of "drawing, a dial is shown at I having dial needle slots 2. cap 3 carries a stitch cam I, transfer cams 5 and 6 and a clearing cam "I, only parts of these cams'being shown. The dial is normally rotatable and the cap and cams stationary. Obviously this relationship may be reversed. A plurality of dial needles generally indicated at 8 are arranged within the slots 2, only a few of these needles being shown in Fig. 1 for purposes of illustration. Cylinder needles are indicated at 9 and, at the stitch drawing side of the machine, these cylinder needles will be spaced practically intermediate the dial needles. These needlesl,

A dial as is the usual practice in such machines, are independently movable in slots 3 in a needle cylinder 0, Fig. 6. While it is not absolutely essential, most machines of the type designed for knitting half hose with rib tops have twice as many cylinder needles as dial needles. The inactive cylinder needles during rib knitting are not illustrated at the stitch drawing side, Fig. 1. At the other side adjacent the cams 5 and 6 at which transfer is eifected, the opposite group of cylinder needles is shown at 9' in the relative position which they occupy as they move upwardly through loops which are to be taken from the dial needles.

The slots 2 in the dial extend inwardly to support needles until the walls to the slots become so thin that it is impractical to carry them farther. These ends of the walls are indicated at I and beyond that point there will be no lateral support for dial needles although there may be support from the upper face ll of the dial which is on the same plane as the bottom of slots 2.

Dial needles as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 are characterized by a shank l2, hook l3, latch l4, butt l5 and a tail I6. This tail portion of the needles is much thinner than the shank and other parts and as before stated, projects inwardly to offer a support to the dial needles in a vertical direction. The particular dial needle illustrated has a notch I1 which cooperates with the hooks of needles 9' as those needles rise to penetrate and take loops from the dial needles at the transfer. Of course, the invention may be applied to other types of needles than latch needles, also to dial needles in which transfer is effected by difierent methods than the one illustrated herein, or may be applied to dial needles which do not effect a transfer of stitches but merely for the purpose of assuring better alignment of needles for knitting. In co-pending application Serial #86314 a complete disclosure of a transfer such as is shown here will be found. In Figs. 4 and 5 the dial needles are shown with cylinder needles moving upwardly to engage their hooks with the inclined notches l1 and thereafter to penetrate dial stitches prior to retracting the dial needles. In Fig. 5 the dial stitch is shown at l8 held on a shoulder IQ of the dial'needles, the said loop being opened up as the dial is shogged with respect to the cylinder all as described in said application above mentioned.

The dial needle tail I6 which was laterally bent for purposes of frictioning according to prior practice is not so bent in this construction and remains straight as shown in Fig, 2. The needle shank is reduced in thickness, or cut away at 20 for the purpose of rendering the same more flexible and it is at this reduced section that each dial needle is bent to about the degree illustrated in Fig. 2. This bend comes within that part of the needle shank which is always retained within the slots 2. Thus it is the dial needle shank which creates the effect of frictioning and not merely the needle tail. Obviously, at times, the

needle is projected so far outwardly as for trans-- ferring, that the needle tail is' supported within the slots and at that time, there would be a certain amount of friction between the slots and the tail, but friction due to a bend in the shank and not due to a bend in the tail.

The necessity for and results of bending the needle tails .on each pair of needles to oppose each other has been explained. It is not necessary to bend the shanks of needles at the reduced section 20 in such opposed directions, and thus each needle is bent in the same direction and to substantially the same degree. The result of this is that even though there is some play for needles within their slots, the tendency for needles to incline in one direction as they project from the dial will be in the same direction for all needles and substantially the same amount. Ac cording to the prior practice the hook ends of each pair of needles would diverge or converge from the correct angular relation which they should assume, depending upon which needles are to be taken as a pair. Heretofore the engagement of hooks on needles such as 9' with the notches ll of the dial needles could not be as exact as was desired. The convergence and divergence above mentioned made it necessary for some needles to engage very tightly while others tended not to contact the side of the dial needle at all. As the dial needle is projected outwardly for transfer it moves out in a radial direction and gradually assumes an angle to the side so that the said dial-needle will come into engagement with the cylinder needle due to this outward projection and unusual frictioning, this being a movement in addition to the usual shogging and gaining movement as described in ap plication Serial #86,814. As the said dial needles are withdrawn they contact the cylinder needles very slightly for the first part of their movement; then they tend to straighten in their slots as the needles are drawn into the dial. This straightening of the needle also moves it away from the cylinder needle so that there is a minimum of rubbing between needles both in the outward and inward movement. This eliminates bending of needles, wear, and cutting of the yarn. With the present practice the condition obtained is near ideal as can be desired.

The invention is applicable to other than dial needles, it being practicable wherever the needle is so short as to be too stifi to be frictioned in the usual way.

The invention has been described with respect to one particular type of machine and one type of dial needle, but is applicable to a great variety of rib machines and to many types of needles. The invention is defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a knitting machine the combination of a cylinder and dial, slots in the cylinder and dial in which are operable pivoted latch cylinder and dial needles, the latter being adapted and so controlled as to have their stitches transferred to cylinder needles, each dial needle being formed with a shank, a butt at about the mid-point of the shank, that part of the shank beyond and at the inner end from the butt being reduced in thickness, and in front of the butt there being a lateral recess reducing the section of the shank which is bent slightly at said point of reduced section, all dial needles being bent in the same direction so that when projected outwardly for transfer, they may incline to the radial direction of their slots but nevertheless assume equal lat eral spacing at their projected ends thereby to facilitate transfer.

ARTHUR N. CLOUTIER. 

